Tea for Two
If you haven’t heard already, we have added Afternoon Tea to our list of services at the flower shop. You may be wondering how we came to this idea! Well, frankly this is something I have dreamed for years now.
When I was in high school, I had a small group of girlfriends that met for bible study - it turned out that 4 of the girls were Jane Autsen fans. Little did I know of the world I would fall in love with! Of course I wasn’t a purist, and I started with the films. Pride and Prejudice first of course, then Sense and Sensibility and then Emma - and then all of the different adaptions of those and other films. Then, I found the books. Jane Austen introduced to me a way into loving history, learning what Regency culture was like with tea, whist, formal protocol but most importantly introduced me to England.
While I was college, I was tempted by study abroad programs, but there wasn’t anything I wanted to study that they offered. (I studied hospitality but wasn’t interested in hotel management.) Nonetheless, the urge to travel and be on my own was still there. A dear friend of mine connected me with his friend in Scotland who was heading up a youth camp on the Outer Hebrides island of Uist. Soon enough, I found myself spending 2 weeks hoping from Toronto to Dublin to my family friends in Swansea, Wales, took a train to Bristol with their friends, Bath, then my dear friends (who is Northern Irish) in London that graciously let me stay with her. I then spent the last 3 weeks in the great land of Scotland, Edinburgh, Inverness (my favorite), and of course through Skye and onto the Isles. Anyway - enough about my travels and more about tea.
Funny enough, I went on this great venture not carrying for tea. In each of the homes I visited, the hosts offered me tea to which I politely declined with “I’m good.” It took 3 occasions of declining tea and then being served a cup of tea with milk before I realized how very ambiguous and very American my little phrase was. I couldn’t refuse their kind gesture of course and thank goodness for the mishap! Truth be told, it took me some time to really enjoy the flavor of what I then called “Hot Tea” (in England, there is no hot tea - just tea). Instead, it was the simple act of being served tea and sharing a pot with my host-turned-friend that really stuck with me. The hot mug and the steam brewing from it made me slow down, take a seat, glance out the window to the gorgeous Bath countryside.
After that first trip, I missed the UK so much and having a cup of tea allowed me to feel connected to a time and place I loved - which is why I had to go back! Fast forward 3 years and I was living in London with incredible friends and working at the most incredible floral studio. There, they valued taking time to design - “slow flower design” - and tea was always part of our breaks.
When I opened the flower shop last May, I knew I wanted the space to be more than a shop. Of the many things I love, most of them I have come to love through experiences. I knew I wanted my customers to fall in love with so much more than flowers. Afternoon Tea combines so much of my other passions - entertaining, sweets, cooking, dinnerware, friendship, decorating, and, well, tea! It’s the perfect way to connect with a friend (hello friendiversary!), celebrate a birthday, graduation, baby shower, or intimate bridal shower. Life is busy - so slow down and take a sip.